Rise of the Empire: The Polman Chronicles
by The Illusive Mann
Summary: One and a half years after the fall of the Republic, Jedi on the run/mercenary for hire, Leon Polman tries to survive in the cutthroat spaceports and metropolises of the newly formed galactic empire. Over a short period of time he has slowly lost his old self in the process of this change. Can he find help? Will he live? Or will he succumb to his desires? Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any Star Wars characters. I did however create Leon as an OC as well as the rest of his family. Just saying.

* * *

In the beginning all that I knew was freedom and in the end, all that existed was the empire. My name is Leon Polman and this is my story...

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away...

I lived in peace with my family on Mandalore for years.

Although I was not born on Mandalore, I was born on Naboo.

There I found a wonderful life with my parents. my father who was a pilot

He was one of the few that defeated the separatists when they blockaded us

and was awarded a medal with many others who fought bravely for our freedom

During the years of the Republic's war with the Separatists,

My parents sent me to stay with relatives on Coruscant, where my life would change forever.

As the years passed by I had heard that Mandalore had been taken over by madmen and

my parents had died trying to fight back. My aunt and uncle who had taken care of me

since then and sent me to the Jedi academy because of my attitude and because my

cousin had joined to fight in the war. There I trained

In the ways of the Jedi and learned how to channel the force and fight. What I really

wanted to do was fight the separatists like Master Skywalker and his padawan did.

Oh his padawan, Ahsoka Tano was a sight to behold. Though I was taught to not form any

attachments in any way, shape, or form, Ahsoka was something that was hard to resist

At any moment when she returned from a campaign with her master I tried to speak

with her, but my inner shyness shattered that effort every single time. For years I

had tried to speak, but it all failed. That day when she was accused of sedition against

the order and the republic was when things started occurring to me. This was made

apparent more so when Bariss gave her testimony. From the teachings that I was taught

on a daily basis, to the news that I was hearing; I realized that the Jedi order was not the

same. It had just shaped itself into the spear that the republic needed, and shape it did.

Then when Ahsoka left, my heart had been broken.

I had thoughts of suicide and told of my anguish to my teachers, and all but one shunned

me, so I decided to follow a path of my own.

I didn't even tell the one who I was afraid to approach, Master Yoda that I was leaving.

Master Yoda was the one that sympathized with me and actually gave me the idea to

leave the order, though he did not do it intentionally.

I packed my things and went to the library where I stocked up on data that I had copied

and saved for future purposes. Then I left. What happened two hours later though would

destroy the order, and it would be by the hands of the Jedi that they had considered the

one.

After running from the temple I went back to my aunt and uncle's apartment and

ransacked their private safe. It sounded like a scummy thing to do, but when you hear

that all Jedi were to be exterminated all around the city, you too would take what would

be necessary and flee persecution. Their money became very useful, being that they

owned stock in various companies that funded the war effort with weapons.

So after fleeing from there I had used a small portion of the six-hundred million credits

that they had stored away and used it to buy a ship for myself, though it was large and

clunky. I also managed to buy an astromech droid, a fully functioning AI suite for my ship,

food and medical supplies, and some not-so-legal weapons and armor that were not very

cheap at all. After that I fled from coruscant, learning that my aunt and uncle had been

arrested for supposedly harboring a Jedi. Days later when I docked at Mos Eisley I had

found out that they both died in each other's arms as a firing squad cut them down.

My cousin Faray had run away from the authorities and was nowhere to be found. The

universe that surrounded me felt like a crushing weight, but the lessons in the holocrons

that I had copied kept my chin up, as well as the holographic picture that I had of me and

my parents.

There were times that I wished that things would go back to the ways that

they were, but now i'm just stuck on whatever port I can afford to get to next. I relied on

paychecks that I would get from the mercenary work that I did. Of course it was mostly

non-lethal stuff that I did, but it didn't get me paid. The problem being that people paid

you more for killing than observing the way of the Jedi. In the matter of the fact I slowly

started slipping from those ways. At some of the more city based spaceports I would

drown myself in the local bars and brothels that were at each place.

One and a half years after living like this I thought that I would have died from all the

twi'leks and other females of the galaxy that I had invited onto the ship or from the

nights where I had too much to drink and somehow made it to my ship. My life had gone

from train wreck to just sleeping in the gutters of the galaxy, but as master Yoda told me

before, "Shrouded is your future. Anxious you must not be."

For sure if he saw me then, he would probably think that his words fell on deaf ears, but

believe it or not they didn't. Things changed for me one day when I went back to Mos

Eisley, and thats where my journey started.

* * *

Ok, so here is the start to something new. I'm going to test the waters of the Star Wars universe and if it doesn't work, then forget about this whole thing. Otherwise, this is the beginning of something really cool.

By the way, if you have not seen season 6 of Star Wars the Clone Wars, you must see it. It is what inspired me to write this fanfic as well as Ahsoka's fate in season 5. I really do hope that I can expand on what I have typed here.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the wait everybody but here is chapter two.**

* * *

Mos Eisley was one of the dirtiest places in the galaxy, and i'm not even talking about the sand. This place was crawling with Jabba's thugs and other scum of the galaxy that needed a place to stay. Even though it was such a dump I decided to stay there for the day, just looking for work. This dump of a spaceport may be a trash heap to the eyes but there were plenty of angry souls here that needed their past erased. For instance the humans next to me had once worked for Jabba and were now on the run.

I was just about to see if I could do anything when a hand reached out to me and sat me down. Out of nowhere a group of stormtroopers, as they called themselves now, and an officer had surrounded me and pushed me back into my booth. I was almost tempted to pull out my lightsaber, but the blaster resting on my side told me to sit down and shut up.

"Hello there mister Polman," the officer said in a snooty tone, "we have been looking everywhere or you."

"Well I guess that your search is over officer." I fired back.

The officer snapped his fingers, still facing me, and ordered one of the troopers to hand me something. The soldier did as he said and tossed it at me. It was a holopad with a wanted ad on it, but it wasn't like anything that you would find around here. I was just handed something that most bounty hunters would probably never see. It was a notice from the office of the imperial inquisitor asking me to hunt down a Jedi by the name of Obediah Nuntoo.

"What would I gain from hunting down another Jedi?" I asked the officer.

"It is simple. If you can bring Obediah back to me alive, then you shall be granted a full pardon from the empire and given asylum on a world of your choosing."

It all sounded wonderful. I could turn in a fellow Jedi and in return I would get away scot free. A perfect plan it may have been to anyone else, but to me I could be turning in the future of the Jedi. I really wanted to think about this before anything went further, but the blaster in my side was starting to make a mark so I made an immediate decision, something rash.

"Fine, I will do it."

"Good, good" he elatedly repeated, "his last stop was at Cloud City if you know where that is."

"I do."

"Fantastic! Now just to be clear, if you are caught aiding Nuntoo in any way, shape, or form, then the deal is off and the gloves are off. In other words you both will be enemies of the empire, understand?"

"I understand. I step out of line and you will kill me."

"Mister Polman i'm glad that we could come to a mutual agreement. Good hunting." With that the officer tipped his hat and moved out with the troopers that were with him.

Thank the force. In my short time outside of the order I had never had any run ins with the empire and I was well enough off the radar to where they could not track me, or so I thought. Now I am going to have to hunt down a fellow Jedi, something that I had never done before.

"I guess I need to find out who this guy is"

* * *

(**Back at the Dondervak...**)

Obediah Nuntoo, a Miralukan Jedi that left the order two years before I did. The reason behind him leaving were his ideas about the Jedi order, which he thought was war-mongering and strayed away from it's teachings of peace. Another thing to add was that he was Miralukan, a rarity amongst the galactic populace.

You see, Miralukans are all born with the nerves where their eyes would be, but do not have eyes themselves. They are basically blind as we know it from birth to the grave and yet they can see. They use the force unlike any Jedi that I have ever heard of. Through the force they are able to see the world around them and not in the sense that we acknowledge sight.

So when I do have to face this guy I really need to watch myself because his connection to the force is probably stronger than mine.

* * *

(**Cloud City two days later...**)

What a wonderful place this was compared to the desert death-trap that Mos Eisely was. This place was definitely cleaner. Little droids sped around me sweeping the marble floors and pretty much everywhere else I was walking. Yes I had not cleaned my boots from trip to Tatooine, but fashion and cleanliness were never worries of mine.

The people here seemed to be kinder than the souls in Mos Eisley. Almost every person that I passed by said hello and waved at me, except for the little people that were running around with tools. They walked and worked like Jawas so I did not mind them much.

Taking an elevator to some of the lower parts of Cloud City I opened up the holopad with Obediah's profile again just to make sure that I had not passed him yet. My memory, being one of my best traits, did not fail me. Nobody matched Obediah's profile yet, so what I can assume is that he is at the Cloud City Cantina, a patch of dirt amongst these sparkling halls.

Once the doors opened I made my way over and went inside. Thats when I made my first mistake. As soon as I entered the door, some Twi'lek exhaled the content of the deathstick he was sucking on and I inhaled. The next few seconds I went into a small coughing fit, which made the man laugh.

"C'mon kid, never smoked before?" he said taking in another breath.

"No I haven't and I never plan on doing so." I said walking away.

The man left me alone and walked outside. The rest of the bar was all that was left to conquer. This place, compared to the rest of Cloud City was a dump for all of the dregs of society. All of these people looked like travellers, but not the friendly kinds. Every now and then I would look back at the holopad and dodge another customer or waitress. This place was packed to the brim with species that stood feet above me so it would be hard to find this guy. Or would it?

Halfway across the room I could feel the force being focused to a single booth to the right of me, so I tried to blend in with the crowd. Every now and then I would take a few steps closer, changing my cover. One minute I would be looking up news, the next I would be hitting on one of the waitressess passing right by me. In five minutes I had made my way over to the booth that I was targeting and finally pulled the curtains open. Low and behold he was there, and he was out.

I reached across the table to the poke him in the back of the head and he grabbed me.

"And what do you think you are doing?" he said as he finally picked up his head.

"I'm here under the authority of the Empire to bring you to justice."

The older Jedi just sat back and laughed at me. I thought that he shouldn't really be laughing because the Empire is nothing to laugh about. Then he yanked my arm and pulled me into the set right next to him and said,"Son, do you believe that you will get some reward for hunting me down?"

Reluctantly, I nodded my head.

"Well thats a laugh kid, because they wiped out our kind. Let me ask, what makes you think that they won't kill us both when you bring me in? Has that ever crossed your mind?"

"It has and I am willing to risk it, old man."

"Old man? Boy do you know that you are talking to a Jedi master?"

"No, and I don't care. You're coming with me either way."

A sudden shift could be felt in the force and I felt it coming from the front door. Through the reflection in the wall of the booth I could see a squad of stormtroopers come in with another in tow. He or she would have come off as a Jedi, if it wasn't for the black robes and the glowing red eyes.

"What did I tell you kid, they're going to kill us both."

Slowly my hand reached for my lightsaber, but Obediah got to it before I did.

"That lightsaber isn't going to do much against against the guy in the middle and I bet he has more back up than that."

"So what would you have us do oh wise Jedi master?"

"I know the bartender here and she has an emergency exit that goes through the center of this city. Follow me."

* * *

(**Back in the Dondervak**)

I don't even know how we had escaped them but we did. The air system that goes throughout Cloud City oddly enough is more connected than I thought. To understand which vents to take must mean that Obediah had been here for a while, maybe even years.

This Jedi, from what I could understand, was at the temple while I was there, but I don't even remember seeing this guy there. Now as for him being a Jedi master, that would be debatable. To me, I thought that we could have taken on those stormtroopers and the person in the black hood and with him being a Jedi master, they would be a piece of cake. So for right now I have little trust in this blind, older Jedi.

In the cockpit he sat right next to me and leaned back. I guess that all the excitement must have been too much for the old fart to handle.

"Hey kid." he said still laying back in his seat.

"What?" I replied.

"You know that I can hear every one of your thoughts right?"

"No, I didn't and would you please stop!" I yelled.

"Boy, you've got some trust issues, I know that, but you're going to have to trust me in order to find a certain someone."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Ahsoka."

My heart felt like it jumped up into my throat when he said that. Did this mean that she was alive?

"How do you..."

"Leon, I have spent my time away from the order meditating in my apartment, day in and day out. I have seen so many things and so many Jedi that live, even after the purge and it gave me hope. I saw master Shaak-Ti on Felucia, I had a glimpse of master Yoda on some swampy world, Master Obi-Wan lives in secret on Tatooine, a Padawan abandoned by the name of Maris Brood, and then I see Barriss Offee. "Obediah paused for a moment and sighed, "She remains on death row awaiting execution, but the emperor is using her connection to the force to hunt down any stray padawans that may have survived. She is currently in a prison under the surface of Naboo."

"That sleemo almost got Ahsoka killed, so what she is getting now she deserves."

Suddenly a fist went right across the right side of my face and knocked me straight to the ground.

"A Jedi should never think like that, ever!" he yelled at me.

"Well you're not my father, mother, or my master old man, so deal with it."

Obediah scoffed at me and rubbed the place where he hit me. He obviously wasn't the big fighting type that I had expected to find.

"Boy I don't know who your master was, but he or she obviously didn't teach you manners or respect. As long as you are around me kid, you had better get some respect in you, otherwise I'll kick your butt up and down this ship to instill some respect into you."

"Now that is laughable." I said with a huge grin on my face."

"I don't even know how anybody could call you a Jedi kid."

"Well what about you? You disagreed with the order about everything."

"Not really, just on the fact that we turned from the peacekeepers of the galaxy to the war mongers that the emperor wanted us to be. I wanted peace in the order, thats all, but when you disagree with the council itself, you get shut down."

"So thats what happened?"

"Yes, and I regret not being there to somehow change the course of things."

"Obediah, if you were there when the purge happened you would be dead."

"I know, but I would rather be someone that opens the eyes of the public to what is going on, basically a martyr. Now all that we are doing is running."

Reaching towards the console in front of me I switched the ship to auto-pilot so maybe I could have a conversation and actually focus.

"So what about Ahsoka, you didn't mention anything about her."

"Skywalker's apprentice. I saw her in my dreams, but she was in a worse state than Barriss. From her surroundings I can assume that she is on a heavily civilized world, but it is not Corusceant."

"So what do we do from here? Do we look for the survivors?"

The old man leaned back in his seat and pondered for a moment.

"Well, I believe that it would be right to look for them and I think that I know where to start. Set a course for Corusceant kid, we're going to pay an old and trusted friend of mine a visit."

* * *

**A/N: I am just letting people know that I am new to Star Wars fics, but I am trying my best to put this all together.**


	3. Chapter 3

Coreusceant, the hub of the empire I would say. The whole planet was swarming with Stations were made for incoming ships so the empire could regulate commerce. Of course Obeh, as I was starting to call him, found a route back onto the planet.

Looking out at the scenery made me cringe. When I made my exit I remember leaving a thriving planet that was vibrant with life and all. Now it looked like some of the dictatorships that I had studied when I was in the Jedi academy.

Propaganda lined the buildings. Fear was the central message in all of the imagery on the signs. It made me wonder how people felt now, espcially seeing all of this or if people just looked the other way when they came near it. This made me wish for the times when the war was still going on.

During those times there was a sense of normalcy about the galaxy. We knew who the enemy was and we could trust the government, but since the empire was formed that was all thrown away. If one was to disagree with the empire they would be called seperatists and would be hated by all just for disagreeing. This is why I questioned Obeh's sanity by wanting to come here of all places, but something deep inside told me to just go along with it.

On our way in we were able to bribe a customs officer to not turn us in. It felt like something that you would expect from bounty hunters or assassins, but in order to find this 'friend' of Obeh's we would have to use every trick in the book in order to get the job done.

As soon as we went past the commercial districts and the galactic senate, Obeh pointed me towards one of the various holes that led deep into the depths of Coreusceant. Down there was where you didn't want to go, especially if you were from places higher up from there, because of the people that live down there. These people have been living in poverty even before the Clone Wars began, so there is no telling how they are faring now.

The Dondervak finally touched down on a landing platform that sat in front of a small diner.

Looking at the place I just rubbed my eyes and said, "Is this really the place where we would be meeting this person? I mean I was expecting a warehouse or someplace more secret."

"Son," Obeh replied, "the empire has eyes everywhere, so why not go to the least obvious place? After all, don't you think that meeting at warehouses is cliche?"

"True."

Reaching across the panel in front of me I flipped the switch to unlock the clamps on the ramp leading outside and lowered it. Obeh went out first to see if the area was clear then sent me a signal to come out with him. On the way over to the diner, I pressed a button on my gauntlet to send the Dondervak to a location where nobody would be looking for it.

* * *

(**Inside**)

There wasn't really much of a crowd there. Just a Rodian couple, some odd Chiss sitting in the far back and a droid in the kitchen. Between the few lifeforms that were here I guess that we were here to meet him.

While walking towards him though I could feel something inside me. It was similar to what I felt when I got near Obeh, but it was also different in its own way. So as we both sat down across from him Obeh opened up and said, "So blue boy, what's the scoop?"

The chiss just grinned from under the cover of his wide-brimmed hat and raised it so that he could see us.

"It's been a while Obediah."

"That it has Nuru."

Suddenly a chill went down my spine as a thought clicked in my head. I remember a Nuru from when I was at the temple, but Obediah couldn't mean that Nuru. Besides he didn't even list him as one of the Jedi that he saw in his visions.

"So what brings you here to this little dent in the universe?" he said as he leaned back into the corner that he was in.

"Well, I was just wondering if you were wanting to get out of here and help us free somebody."

The Chiss finally removed his hat and revealed his whole face to us. He looked like he had seen better days, but his face was recognizable. He was Nuru Kungurama, a Jedi padawan that had his own master turn to the dark side of the force and eventually leave the order. The last I heard was that the Clones had killed him on Ryloth, then it was changed to two other places. From then on I just guessed that he had survived everything and was hiding somewhere and here he was sitting in the very capital of the empire.

"Let me guess, you want me to help you free her." he replied.

"Free who?" I interrupted.

Obediah put his hand on my shoulder and cleared his throat. Something that he was about to say was probably something that I didn't want to hear, but once again something was telling me to just go along with it.

"Leon, i've been talking to Nuru with the force since we left Cloud City and we both agree on this. Take it away Nuru."

"Soon we will be going to Naboo, not just because it's lovely around this time of year but also because we heard from a valuable source of the location of a prison there. This prison used to be a separatist bunker that was focused on making chemical weapons, but now it has changed. It now houses Barriss Offee, a former traitor to the order..."

"But a valuable asset now." Obediah finished. "I know that you may hate her for what she made Ahsoka go through, but that has to be thrown out the window, especially now because there are so few of us left. Leon, if we don't start working together then we will all die separately. Together we must restore the order and crush the empire before it gets its hands on the remnants of the order."

"And I understand that." I replied while still thinking about it all. "The only problem that I have is that bringing so many force users together...don't you think that it will attract Darth Vader's attention?"

Just bringing up his name in the diner made the atmosphere itself feel uncomfortable. Nuru ran his hand through his hair and took in a deep breath while Obeh still maintained his composure.

"It could, but that is a risk that we are going to have to take." said Nuru.

"So," I said leaning back in the seat, "when do we begin?"

"Soon" Nuru replied, "But first we must gather together some friends of ours that have been in hiding for a while."

"And who could that be?" I asked.

Obediah pulled a disk out of his pocket and threw it on the table in front of me. Once it stopped sliding it came to life and projected the images of what looked to be scenes from the Clone Wars.

"Those four men right there are part of a commando unit that served the Republic during the war. They were called delta squad before the empire turned them into squad 40. Before the empire was formed, they were sent to Kashyyyk to operate there. It was there where they supposedly lost their sniper codenamed SEV. We somehow managed to find him still there working with the Wookies, except he was then targeting his former comrades."

"This may sound interesting and all, but when am I going to get to say something?" said a familiar voice from the kitchen.

My whole body turned to the window of the kitchen hearing the voice of a clone. I even pulled out my lightsaber and pointed it right at the door leading out.

"Don't worry kid, he won't bite." said Obediah.

The door leading from the kitchen slid open, and out came a clone in red and white armor, a scar leading from the top of his bald head to his right cheek. His armor looked like that of the clones at the beginning of the war, except it had its modifications.

"So you're SEV?" I asked.

The clone nodded and slid onto one of the barstools that lined the other side of the counter that he had been standing behind previously.

"I haven't heard anybody call me by my codename in a while, then again i've been around Wookies for a while now."

"So what made you change?" I said out of the blue.

The war-torn clone switched his gaze to me and said what had been on his mind since his squad abandoned him. "I changed because of order 66. Before the empire I heard of the rumor about a chip that had been implanted in me when I was born. When I head that it was from a clone, that made me want to get it out of my head as fast as I possibly could so I was able to recover a medical droid from one of the Trandoshan depots that we raided and have it removed. This is why I didn't immediately distrust the Jedi when the order went out and thats why I started killing clones."

"And what about the rest of your squad? What if we run into them?"

He paused for a moment and glanced down at his helmet, a depressed look on his face.

"If they become a problem, then they'll be treated like one."

With that he put on his helmet and walked out the front door. Something told me that I had pushed a button too many with those two questions.

"I'm sorry about that." said Nuru as he stood up. "SEV still hasn't forgotten about his squad leaving him on Kashyyyk, even though I told him that they were listening to orders. Let me just tell you that it would be best not to mention them in the future, ok?"

"Ok" I said following him out of the diner.

"Good, now lets get out of here and off of this wretched planet before the authorities find us."

* * *

(**Between Coreusceant and Naboo..**)

It was an uneasy trip thus far. SEV was so quiet that I thought he was an introvert because all that he did was clean his guns and run diagnostics on his armor, thats it. I really wanted to ask him what it was like doing all of the black ops missions and what it was like behind the scenes, but then I remembered his reaction back at the diner so I just stayed where I was in the cockpit.

Nuru was a different story. I couldn't get him to shut up about this girl that we're going to meet on Naboo, and how wonderful she is and when he met her. It was driving me up the wall, but then I thought about his situation. His family was probably dead or imprisoned because he is a Jedi. He can't go home because the empire owns it now, just as they control the rest of the galaxy. I would really feel the same about Ahsoka if she were here with us.

...

My mind drifted off as it often did when I thought about her, which may seem weird. It really did seem to be weird to my friends that I had there too when I talked about her. They just called me a freak because I liked somebody of a different race. Of course I knew that if I was to ever get in a relationship with her that we couldn't have kids, but I asked myself, is that the true purpose of life itself? Are we just to have kids and die or can we love one another in matrimony and live out our lives?

I just wanted me and Ahsoka to be together, but my consoler back at the temple always thought that that was selfish. Of course there were Jedi that thought otherwise. At one time during my stay at the temple I ran into a Jedi master by the name of Rahm Kota. Compared to the other Jedi he was an outcast like me, except his differences were apart from mine. Although he did believe that a Jedi marrying someone was perfectly fine, which I agreed on. He even told me to go after her, but that was the day that Barriss did her damage with the bombs.

...

Barriss

Barriss Offee was the last person in the galaxy that I thought I would get to see again. On the outside I didn't show the hatred that I felt inside. I hated that woman with every fiber of my being after Ahsoka was blamed for her evil and now she was going to aid us in our fight to restore the republic. And here I thought that working for the Hutts five months ago was bad.

* * *

(**Planet Onderon Five months ago...**)

Onderon. During the Clone Wars it was controlled by the separatists, but later liberated itself with the help of the republic. After the war, Lux Bonteri had been stripped of his power when he stood against the emperor in the senate. When he was thrown in prison he was replaced by a politician who's primary focus was to brainwash the entire planet into believing that Lux was a traitor at heart and that the empire was here to serve.

Almost a year after the empire was formed, this man was replaced by General Nasso Myns, an officer that served during the Clone Wars and was extremely loyal to the emperor and Darth Vader. This period in Onderean history would be known as the beginning of the occupation. This is the time when Imperial troops were garrisoned in every major city to ensure that the populace would be compliant, even if it meant marshal law.

My purpose here of all things was to break into one of the most heavily defended prisons on the planet. My objective was to kill a records keeper. This records keeper worked for the Hutts and had knowledge of encryptions necessary to break into the accounts of the criminal empire. This was going to help the empire gain leverage over the Hutts and give an advantage to them when they would try to invade Hutt controlled space.

Sitting on the mountainside I looked down my scope, watching the same patrol go by again. For weeks I had been sitting out here, recording the patrols as they went by and what times they moved. This helped me find a guard that was by himself on one patrol and allowed me to figure out his situation. This guard, along with his fellow guards, were going to be replaced and soon by imperials, so he didn't put up much resistance to my offer.

Now I waited with my scope sighted in at the right distance. If the guard was right, the records keeper would be moving across the catwalk where I was aiming at; hopefully, my money didn't go to waste.

Soon it had been an hour since the allotted time that the prisoner was to be moved, and I was becoming impatient, so I started looking around the prison. My sights went around the prison, going from window to window, seeing prisoners that looked like they belonged there, except for one prisoner. In my sights sat a guy that was probably my age or younger looking out the window, and I could have sworn that he was looking down my scope. It was the boy that Ahsoka talked about so much, Lux Bonteri.

To tell you the truth I didn't hate the man, I just didn't see what Ahsoka saw in him. He was a snob, but she still talked about him the way that she did, which irritated me. Waving my scope back up I saw that the records keeper was walking across the catwalk to the other side of the prison.

With a calmed composure I slowly sucked in air, slowing my heartbeat down, and pulled the trigger. Down on the catwalk blood shot out of the keeper's head, but it wasn't what I thought it would. The species of people that the keeper comes from has orange blood and this was as crimson as the stuff in my veins. I panicked and looked around the prison to see if I had been played and came across Lux's window again. There was not a single soul inside that cell.

Focusing the scope back on the catwalks I saw the cloak that had been covering the face of the record keeper fly off and dropped my sniper rifle. From there I ran for my life because of the shame that I was feeling at the moment, that and imperial gunship that was stationed nearby was making its way towards the spot where I was.

After I had somehow managed to get back to the Dondervak I flew as fast as I could off-world and jumped out of the system.

Come to find out, it wasn't the Hutts that sent me the transmission in the first place, it was the empire. Their plan the whole time had been for me to kill someone who I thought was an important figure in the Hutt's criminal empire. It was actually Lux.

Of all the things in the galaxy that I wanted to happen was to see Ahsoka again, but now I would have to tell her that I murdered her friend in cold blood.

It would be two months later that I found out that Jabba didn't even contact me in the first place. I was contacted by an imperial inquisitor using a voice modulator to sound like Jabba the Hutt.

* * *

(**Theed, Capital City of Naboo**)

Once we had landed, and evaded nightly stormtrooper patrols, we came across a hole in the wall called Ungoi's Tavern. Inside there were mostly commoners with a Gungan here and there. It wasn't a complete dump, but there was this weird smell that I came across now and then.

Forgetting the previous distractions, I focused on the girl with the white hair that we were heading towards. She was sitting in the back of the joint, which meant that she didn't want to be seen and she sat in a booth with walls on each side, telling me that she might be expecting stromtroopers at any moment. As soon as we made it to the table we sat down in the circular seat, Nuru getting closer to her than the rest of us.

"Lalo, it has been a while." he said as they kissed on the spot.

Once they left the embrace Lalo hugged the man as hard as she could, revealing a ring on her hand.

"You two are married?" I asked.

"Yes," Lalo replied, "we have been for five months and counting" she grinned.

"So little lady, other than blue over here, why are we talking to you."

Reaching to a pouch at her side she pulled out a small disk with an old republic insignia and slid it to SEV. The commando recognized the disk from his past adventures and typed in a special encryption key that was used by the republic. Lights started glowing on the sides of the device and a small but identifiable hologram appeared before us.

"It took me many nights of going out with an officer to get this, so start taking notes." she Lalo to the rest of us. "This is the map of the bunker that General Skywalker captured during the Clone Wars. This map may be a little out of date, but from what I have gathered the insides of it have not changed much."

"So you are basically saying that this is old intel?" asked SEV.

"Yep." she replied.

"And there could be danger involved?" he asked again.

"Yep"

"Good, I like to stay on my toes."

And just as soon as we got there we were going to leave. Obediah was the first to get up amongst the five of us, then SEV, then me. That night it appeared that Lalo had more than a map of the bunker for us. She had also arranged for us to stay in a real swanky hotel that looked over the river.

Within an hour we had gone from the scum of the earth to a five star hotel. We all stayed on the same floor that was usually reserved for senators. There were three rooms that connected to a central living room. In one room you had me and Obediah, in the next you had SEV by himself, then in the last room you had Lalo with Nuru. Through the short time that I had been with Nuru he hadn't shown any sign of immaturity, not even now with his wife did he break his calm and collected shell. Once their door had closed SEV soon followed, then Obediah shut his door.

For the next thirty minutes I sat out in the center chamber just staring out at the skylines of Theed, just wondering what it was like before the empire. Then while drifting in those thoughts I started feeling drowsy. My head felt like a vase teetering on the edge of a table, though I knew that when I fell that I wouldn't break into a million pieces. That night I didn't even know when my head hit the pillow, but what happened afterwards made me wonder if I had taken something before I went to sleep.

I could tell that it was a dream but it all felt so real. I was seeing the sun rising on some world that I had never seen before. There were fields of grass that grew to my waist. A breeze rolled by and dragged different scents into my nostrils. One thing out of this experience caught my eye though. I looked far ahead of me and saw a figure standing in the distance. She stood just a little below my height and had lekku and montrals that looked kind of familiar to me. It was Ahsoka, and she was kneeling for some reason.

Slowly I walked over to her to see why she and I were here and saw someone else standing in front of her. He had black armor, a black cape, and a black helmet and mask that concealed his face. At his side he had a light saber and he summoned it into the palm of his hand. The blade came out and shined a dark red glow against the field around them. Knowing what was about to happen I ran over to her to save her but it was too late.

The dark figure then walked over to me and pointed the blade at my chest and said, "Your search for her will kill you in the end child. Give up and you may live"

"Never"

* * *

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Writers block, finals, and one lazy summer can be really difficult to work around.**

* * *

In a flash my whole dream world crumbled before me and I hopped up off the couch where I had been laying the past three or so hours. Things were hazy and I felt dizzy, which I usually felt after having one of those drinks from the far rim. Outside it was still nighttime and everybody was still asleep. My body wanted to go back to sleep and rest this off, but my mind was still fearing what other horror I would see in my dreams.

The worst part was the realism in it all. I felt the wind, I could feel the grass below me, and most importantly I felt the force through it all. It made me feel worse than I already did about Ahsoka. It made me wonder if she was still alive after the vision that Obeh had.

Restless me decided to walk over to the open balcony and lean against the rail, hoping that I would feel safe once more to go to sleep again, but that wasn't the case. Not even the calming sounds of the night could soothe me. My mind was restless because the only thing that I wanted was out there and she could be in danger. Then I felt someone stand next to me. I looked over to my right and saw nobody and then my left. It was the same result and I still felt like I was being watched.

"Behind you." said a familiar voice.

I turned around to confront this person and dropped my lightsaber when I saw who it was , master Traaght. In recent times I never did bring up master Traaght. Traaght was a Togorian that stood seven feet tall and always made me feel like a dwarf compared to him, though he didn't do it intentionally.

"Master, how are you here? I thought that you were gunned down on Kamino when you helped Shaak-Ti escape."

"My boy," he said with his deep and bellowing voice,"I did not die that day, rather suffered many injuries."

"Then where are you now!" I said kneeling on the balcony. "Please master, I need to know where you are so that I can find you!"

"SILENCE!" he said. "You must have patience Leon, something that has eroded from your mind since the purge. I have seen the way that you have left our teachings in the form of such unbearable circumstances."

"I know but..."

"Leon, you must first learn to control yourself. You may not see it but you are slipping my boy. What you feel right now about Ahsoka is not love my friend. I saw what you have done. Using prostitutes to fulfill your fantasies of being with Ahsoka and yet you have gone nowhere."

"But master, I haven't done anything like that in over a week."

"You did tonight. While you sat there and watched Nuru and his wife show their affection for one another the thoughts came into your head. You see it is not necessary to have the physical interaction with another to commit such an act. All that it takes is one glance and that is it."

On that last word I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. I have been suffering for so long and have had nothing to keep me accountable. Finally I broke down saying "I am sorry master, I truly am. I just wish that things would have stayed the same. I wish that the Sith didn't exist so that everybody that I know and love would not be dead, scattered, or gone!"

Traaght in is usual fashion kneeled down where I was and wrapped his arms around me something that he never did at the temple.

"Leon, the struggles that you are facing now and in the future are going to worsen. More and more will this struggle inside of you continue, but it can be stopped with proper training and care."

"I know but, who will train me in these ways?"

"The answer that you seek is asleep right now. Obediah may not be the most ideal Jedi in the galaxy to train under, but he is very determined in all that he does. He will help you Leon, you just have to let him help you."

After telling me this, he loosened his grip on me and stood up. I tried to get up but I couldn't muster the strength to so he picked me up by the back of my shirt and stood me up.

"Now Leon, you must get ready for tomorrow, for you will be tested not only in combat, but control over your emotions. You may tell yourself that you are over Barriss and what she did, but in your heart you know that you are lying to yourself. Do not let your emotions get the better of you, for that is the way of the dark side. Farewell."

Light flooded into my eyes, which was weird. I had thought that it was nighttime, but when I opened my eyes I saw daylight pouring in. I realized it now that I had two dreams in one night. I looked toward the balcony and saw that Lalo was taking in the sunlight with nothing on but a flight jacket and some panties. My eyes wandered as I saw the radiance of the sun reflect off of her skin, then she bent over to stretch her arms towards the ground and gave me a more than full view of her rear. As the sight of the woman started generating thoughts, what master Traaght said in my dream came to mind and I looked away before my lustfulness would get the better of me.

'_This is going to be harder to handle than I thought._'

* * *

(**At the spaceport**)

An imperial shuttle had arrived at the military landing zone. Troops had lined up before the shuttle in recognition of who was onboard, an assistant of Darth Vader Xelek Vartal.

Xelek was a force-sensitve Zabrak that had been taken in by Vader when he and a batallion of troops went to wipe out the night sisters. Xelek, being that Vader was busy elsewhere, had decided to visit the all too familiar planet of Naboo to check up on Barriss and her progress at their Jedi tracking facility.

Slowly he marched down the walkway past troops who were intimidated by the man because they had heard the numerous stories of his rage. His boots clicked and clacked against the steel walkway that he treaded upon and made those who he passed hold their breath, lest they step out of line and endure his wrath for whatever time they had left.

While the pawn of Vader made his way across, an officer with a holopad stood ready to debrief his superior on the condition of Theed.

"Lord Xelek." the officer said as he stood at attention.

"At ease commander." said Xelek.

"Sir, I have compiled reports since you last visited and formed charts based on data."

"And what good news do you bring to me?"

The officer held his breath for a moment then handed him the report.

"This report tells me that you have found no Jedi and the insurrectionists on this planet have gone into hiding again. What use does this information have to serve other than telling me that you are utterly useless!"

The officer tried to explain himself, but Xelek silenced him with the force as he choked him where he stood. Then with a single motion he tossed the officer's dead body to the side so that it was not in his way.

"Who is the next in line to become commander?" Xelek asked the group of officers around him.

One of them stood out amongst the rest and raised his hand.

"I am sir." he said shaking in his boots.

"You look like a man that would rather run than fight." said Xelek. He tossed that officer away like garbage, throwing him against the hull of his shuttle with a sickening crack.

"By the time that I come back from our facility here I had better find a man willing to take some troops from the garrison and find these insurrectionists, is that clear?"

In one collective voice they said, "Sir yes sir!"

* * *

(**One hour later...**)

Around the waters below the waterfall I found someplace to meditate, but that was disturbed by Nuru telling me that everybody was ready to assault the bunker. I had asked for a few minutes more to meditate but he pulled me away from my spot to a speeder that was sitting idle in a alley close by.

"Finally found you kid, we were wondering where you went off to." said Obediah.

"Yeah well, I was in a very peaceful state until Nuru here disturbed me."

The blue Jedi just shrugged his shoulders and grinned at the rest of us as he hopped in the passenger seat next to Lalo. Just like a typical pilot would do she floored it out of the alley and through a few tunnels that dropped us into the sewers. Once we had made it past the wall we shot through the hatch at the end that secured the sewers from the outside and sped off towards the swamps where the bunker was located.

(**Meanwhile...**)

Being stuck in this prison wasn't something that I had hoped to be my end. They check in every hour to see if I have located a new Jedi or force sensitive child out in the galaxy and all I do is keep my mouth shut. This just forces them to bring in an interrogation droid with all forms of torture visible on its exterior.

I wanted to die like the rest of the Jedi when order 66 came around but they kept me alive for some reason. Every attempt that I could use to take my own life failed because of that monster of a warden. He constantly came in to see if he could pull something out of my mind that the officers or the droid missed and every time there was nothing to find. He actually enjoyed his work and hated Jedi with a passion, so much that he personally had a padawan that they had captured sent here to be executed in front of me.

It was all hopeless. My life had hit rock bottom and there was no hope for me. There were no Jedi to come to my rescue, even though I could feel them through the force. There was no army of clones that were there to help me or to stop the menace that the republic used to be. How fast things have turned on the people of the republic is incredible and yet they allow it. To trade freedom for safety from another war is surrender of the worst kind.

Across from the door opened to my cell and a guard came in. I recognized him from the coloration of the stripes on his helmet. Unit 26812 was one of the nicest clones that I had ever met. He was older than most if not all of the clones here and he was the most decorated. He happened to server in my master's unit during the clone wars and was waiting back on Coreusceant when order 66 went into effect.

Never in his life had he felt any anger towards the Jedi, even when he turned against my master. Day after day he comes into my cell and apologizes for what he has done and all I could do was forgive him. I could never understand how somebody with such a kindered spirit could work in such an awful place.

After he left it was quiet, just like it always had been. The guards did their rounds, taking a moment to see if I was still in my cell. Then they moved on. They knew that I could hear their thoughts and what they wanted to do to me because order 66 was still ingrained in their minds. None of the originals never really changed after order 66 and I have never met any one other than 26812 that has.

Outside I could hear footsteps but these footsteps sounded different. They were't the familiar clacking of clone armor on the floors that I recognized and they were out of synch. The other factor was that clones didn't have a reason to be running around in this place because nobody could find it.

Then I heard it, the familiar sound of a lightsaber igniting. A green blade came through the door and started moving counterclockwise around the center of it. I could feel the prescience of the force just outside the door and couldn't believe it. Jedi were actually coming to my rescue.

The blade retracted and the chunk that was cut out was carefully slid out of place. I recognized the carefulness of the metal as something that an experienced Jedi would do. Once it had been removed, a young man walked into the room, about my age, and walked over to me. He pulled out a lightsaber of his own, a blue lightsaber, and cut through my restraints. I was weak then, but all that I could do was wrap my arms around him.

"You're safe now Barriss." he said.

"Thank you for saving me, but who are you?"

"Sorry but introductions will have to wait until we get out."

In his arms I felt safe. For once I didn't feel the theat of the empire bearing down on me any more, though I did sense anger aimed at me. I didn't recognize the man under the hood that he had on but his voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Just outside the door I saw the owner of the green blade standing outside with a clone in outdated special forces armor. My first thought would be to take the lightsaber from the Jedi and strike the clone down but it looked like he was here to help rather than hinder us from escaping.

The Jedi with the green saber lifted his hands above his head and pointed them towards a ventilation duct above us. With the power of the force he pulled down the bolted vent cover and carefully placed it to his side. The clone right next to him aimed his gun at the open vent above us and fired a grappling hook from it, making our way out clear.

One by one we went I to the ventilation system and followed the older Jedi out. I wished that I could have seen the whole experience. I wanted to see how my savior so came to my rescue and where they came from, but I guess that I could ask them when I woke up. Yes, I passed out.

"Guys," I uttered quietly through my headset, "she just passed out on me."

"Well she was weak to start with." Obediah replied. "You're strong enought to pull her along boy, you can do it."

"Whatever you say Obeh, whatever you say."

* * *

(**In the hallway below**)

Darth Xelek, as he could be called, walked beside the warden of the top secret prison on Naboo. Every cell that he passed by had someone who was an outspoken critic of the empire and had been brought here for interrogation and in some cases execution. He enjoyed that last part because he had watched most of them. A hardliner at heart he really believed that these people were the scum of the galaxy and hated them with a passion.

"Whatever they get they deserve warden." Xelek said to the commanding officer.

"Indeed sir, especially that Jedi that we have stored away."

Suddenly the sith stopped in his tracks. His escorts stopped before they could go any further and started looking around.

"Sir, what seems to be the problem?" asked the warden.

"There is a large prescience of the force in these halls."

"Well of course sir, we have a Jedi shackled downstairs."

"No, I know that she is here, but I can sense two others."

The warden understood what that meant.

"Trooper 98605, access the camera outside the Jedi's cell and see if she is still there."

Using the projector built into his wrist communicator, the guard sifted throught security feeds all across the prison, landing on the one sitting in front of Barriss' cell.

"Uhh, sir." he said pointing to the hole in the door.

Xelek saw the image from where he was standing and darted off towards the lower levels of the prison.

"Trooper, signal the alarm!" yelled the warden.

(**In the vents above**)

We had somehow slipped past both the warden and the black-robed monster of a man that was with them. Lucky for us our escape was easier for us because of the Warden's stupidity. He pulled most of the guards into the halls around Barriss' cell and started a search there, and it would be unfruitful.

Outside Nuru and Lalo were waiting for us in the speeder. As we sped off on the distance I finally felt like I could breathe. Never in my life had I broken into a prison and an Imperial one at that.

SEV looked back at the unconcious Jedi lying in my lap. "So, we've got her now. What do we do?"

Obediah, sitting next to me, parted the hair on the back of her head and examined the back of her neck. "Just as I thought." He said.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"It is an ancient Sith device. During the age when the Sith were greater in number they planted these devices on captured Jedi in order to hunt down their own kind. Technically speaking, Barriss is now a radar for Jedi and we can use this to find the others."

"Good," said Nuru,"With enough Jedi and angry citizens of the galaxy we can crush the empire."

"Nuru baby, I think that finding enough angry people is going to be a problem." said Lalo. "I've been all around the galaxy and people love the empire right now. Right now it's going to be hard to find a bunch of rebels."

"I beg to differ." Said SEV. "I've gotten in contact with many commando units that went AWOL after the war. They don't like the empire or how they do things so there are people out there, you just have to look harder."

(**Back in the prison**)

Xelek wasn't pleased at all. The large prescience of the force that he felt within the prison had left. The prisoner had escaped with the help of Jedi and his master wouldn't be pleased with the results of today's visit. He also heard that the local insurrectionists had attacked the garrison outside of Theed.

Today was not his day.

In a tall dark room Xelek entered. The room was purposed for intergalactic communication. In the center was a holographic projector that connected directly with the local command center. Today it would reach out to the emperor's right hand man, Darth Vader.

As Vader appeared, Xelek bowed before his master.

"My lord."

"Inquisitor Xelek, how has your visit been to Naboo?"

Xelek took one hard swallow and said, "Not well sir. During my visit to our hidden detention facility Barriss Offee escaped with the help of two Jedi and a former commando. Also..."

"Jedi?" He asked.

"Yes sir."

"How do you know that they were Jedi?"

Xelek paused.

"Well, they used the force to pull out a freshly cut section of the door to Barriss' cell. Also they had lightsabers."

The dark lord on the other side of the line pondered on this for a moment. One Jedi was understandable, but two were too much. How they were able to make it past the force sensitive security checkpoints was beyond him. Vader thought that the emperor should hear this, but only after Xelek was done with his report.

"Inquisitor, you are to punish the warden and all of those who failed to catch the Jedi coming to Naboo immediately."

"You want me to execute them sir?"

"Yes, and send a new unit to watch the prison."

"Sir I do believe that that may be a problem."

"How so?" Said Vader in a deeper tone Of voice.

* * *

(**Aboard the Dondervak**)

My ship was becoming more cramped on this journey. First Nuru and SEV, now Lalo and Barriss, this ship was getting overrun with people.

I set course for our next destination, a lone asteroid out in Zuborte Ma, the asteroid belt between Mygeeto and Itzeho. There Lalo and Nuru had established a small base of operations that was protected by hidden laser turrets. While we were heading there I put the Dondervak on auto-pilot and went back in the crew quarters so that I could have a chat with Barriss.

When the door opened I could see that she was still asleep. So I snuck in, locking the door behind me. When the door sealed shut, her eyes opened. She leaned up expecting to see Lalo or Obediah just checking up on her but when she saw me she laid back down.

"Don't go back to sleep Barriss, we need to have a talk."

The Jedi before me turned her head towards the wall, ignoring me.

"When you rescued me, I could feel your anger towards me. Why are you so mad with me? What have I done to you?"

"You framed Ahsoka, that's what you did."

Hearing that name made her sit up immediately. She took one good look at me and folded her arms.

"I knew it. You're the one that had a thing for Skywalker's padawan."

I was just about so say something, but I had a feeling that she knew what I was about to say.

"I knew about your feelings for her when I was talking with some of the other padawans that I sparred with. They talked about how you constantly looked for her in the temple."

"They must have considered me to be a stalker."

"Actually no, they just considered you to be very shy and caring."

"Well, I've changed."

Barriss pulling up her sleeve revealed a set of numbers tattooed on her armor with an emperial symbol at the end. She looked up at me and said, "Haven't we all changed in some shape or form."


	5. Chapter 5

"They labeled you as some kind of animal." said Leon.

The former padawan ran her fingers across the digits on her arm. A reminder that she was the property of the galactic empire, no longer free. A stray tear managed to escape her. Leon reached out for her, hoping to coax her, but she withdrew. Her hurt was worse than he had thought and with what she did in the temple...her mind must be fragile.

"Barriss..."

"Don't. I don't need your sympathy...those deaths. All of the lives that I took in the temple cannot be justified. Saving me is going to do nothing to help you because I am just a killer, not a jedi."

Leon could not hold back. Reaching both of his arms out he wrapped himself around Barriss in a loving embrace. The young Mirialan woman buried her face in his shoulder. This was not the first time that he had held a woman in his embrace but it was the first time that he did so out of care.

"I know what you did. I even hated you for it, but what you have to realize is that the past is in the past Barriss. I had to let go of things that I had done myself."

Barriss looked up to him and wiped water from her eyes.

"What have you done Leon? It cannnot be as terrible as wiping out innocent lives."

She watched his expression as it turned from neutral to dark. His eyes went over to the mirror on the wall.

"During the time after the purge I needed a way to keep myself out of the Empire's grasp, so I made an identity for myself. I started taking bounties and when the time came I even hunted some former Seperatists. The rewards were incredible and the new image I made for myself was even better. They called me the 'Dagger of Sycon 6' when I wiped out an army of Seperatist sympathizers. Even with the recognition, the money, the women, I felt empty."

He paused for a moment and clenched his fists. Barriss had a feeling that he was having to dig deep to say these things.

"I hated the Seps for who they were and what they did so I showed no mercy when it came to people like them. For one mission though, I made a grave mistake. I was sent to Onderon by Jabba. My mission was to kill a former employee of his that was about to give up vital information to the Empire. When I took the shot I thought nothing of it. Their face was shrouded by a piece of cloth so I could not tell who they were. When the shot impacted with the target their mask fell off and it was revealed to be Lux Bonteri."

"Lux was the face of the resistance on Onderon. I know that because I saw his image everywhere that the resistance struck."

"It is true. I killed the only hope that Onderon had of freeing itself from the shackles of Emperial rule. I couldn't take so instead of ending myself I went to back to what I consumed whenever I felt guilty. I comforted myself by getting drunk and sleeping with whomever I pleased."

"Leon...what has become of the Jedi?"

"I have no clue to tell you the truth. Once we lost the temple I guess we all changed."

The room fell silent as Barriss wrapped her arms around him. He could hear her crying, feel the blue flows trickling over him. Moving in place he turn ed around to comfort her and held her close to him.

"In these times Barriss we have to be strong with the force. If we lose hope now then the dark side has already won."

Looking up at him, lips trembling she said, "Then we shouldn't lose hope."

Like an ion torpedo, her lips quickly impacted with his. Leon didn't quite expect the kiss and leaned back. Barriss tried to pull him back in but he was quick to push her away.

"Barriss.."

"What is it?" she repied with a quickened breath.

"You let your emotions cloud your judgment."

"I'm sorry Leon...I haven't had anybody comfort me as intimate you have."

"I know. Next time, I won't do that."

Without another word he marched out of the room. He waited untilt he door closed behind him to let out the breath that he had been holding.

"The temption was there. I could've...we could've..."

His thoughts trailed back to his memories of Ahsoka. In his heart he felt that he would have betrayed Ahsoka by staying any longer in the room with Barriss. Lust almost overpowered him, which would have led to attachment and attachment was something that he didn't need right at the moment.

"Leon" said a voice through his communicator.

"What is it Obeh?" Leon replied.

"We've arrived at the asteroid. Tell Barriss to come up here too."

"Will do."

The young Jedi turned to open the door and had it open for him. Barriss stomped out of the room down the hall that lead to the cockpit. He felt the anguish in her heart and lamented it.

'_Maybe Obeh can help her_' He thought.

He made sure to stay far back from his fellow Jedi and entered the cockpit. Out the forward window he saw the asteroid that they had been looking for. The ship slowed as it approached the rock nose first.

Leon was worried that it would run straight into the floating chunk until a set of doors revealed themselves. Once inside the interior presented itself. The emem of the republic was emblazoned on the walls as well as some of the troops walking around.

"My my," Obediah said with a grin,"Nuru has been a busy man."

The older Jedi stood on his feet and walked out of the room leaving Leon and Barriss alone. It made him wonder if Obediah could feel Barriss' feelings. The tension in the room was obvious and he could feel it. To defuse it he followed Obediah ran out the door leaving Barriss to herself.

Lalo and the others were already waiting outisde. Beside the. Was a man dressed in an unrecognizable uniform.

"Ah there he is, the man who lent us his ship" said Nuru.

The uniformed soldier in front of him extended his hand and stepped forward.

"Mister Polman, from the people of the Free Republic, we thank you."

"You're welcome?" Leon said confused.

"Sorry chap, I forgot to give you my name. I am Commander Durnsten Silvogoth of the Arven Private Military Group."

"A high ranking officer that got out?" SEV asked. "How are you still alive?"

"Well after the war, I gave my men an ultimatum, join the Empire or fight for the Republic. Most chose to stay. The others used the escape pods to flee."

"And what happened to the ship?"

"You're standing in it. Over a year or so ago we started using the tractor beam to pull in asteriods with minerals. Around that time we figured out a way to meld the asteriods into one so that the ship would not be visible. In other words our base of operations will not be easy to find, all thanks to our resident Jedi...that is if you want to call her that."

"You mentioned a resident Jedi, who is this she?" Obediah questioned.

At the other end of the room the a heavy set of doors opened and gave way to a tall and muscular woman. The crew of the Dondervak payed close attention to the Cordru-Ji female. Her eyes were a piercing shade of red. Scars adorned the armor that she wore, a no longer eggshell white color.

She stomped over to the group that was gathered and huffed, "Commander, what have we argued about again and again? Just because they can breathe does not mean that we should let them come aboard our vessel."

"I'm sorry miss Xchallo, but if I recall I believe that I was in charge of this vessel." Silvogoth barked back.

The four-armed Jedi Master growled at the smaller man and left. The commander ran his hand through his hair and breathed a sigh of relief. A prescence of disorder lingered in the air, something that did not sit well with the other Jedi standing there.

"Is she normally like that?" Asked Leon.

"I apologize for Master Xchallo's behavior. After the war she became a truly different person. Before she was understanding and cordial."

The Commander took a glance at his wrist and bowed, "Another apology my friends but I must leave. I made an appointment to speak with another rebel faction that may want to work with us in the near future."

Just as they had arrived, their hosts had left. Obediah scratched the hair on his chin in contemplation.

"Nuru," he said, "you associate yourself with some very interesting people, especially that Cordru-Ji that came through here earlier. Never have I met such an unruly Jedi and bunch of troops."

"Well, this is all that we have to work with. All of the clones that were left out there were mindless drones of the empire...no offense SEV."

"None taken."

"So what now?" Asked Lalo.

"Let's talk to Lieuteneant Gaspev" Nuru replied. "He's one of the few people that has more time on his hands."

The young Jedi led the group towards a group of pilots gathered in a corner of the hanger while Leon stayed behind. He was waiting for Barriss to get off the ship so they could settle what happened before.

"This is right" he thought. "I need to tell her about my vision, maybe that can help."

Using the force he tried to locate Barriss. He leaned against the ship, taking in deep, slow breaths like he usually did. Sounds from within the ship made themselves heard. There were mechanisms resetting themselves, valves turning, pistons moving, then there was the sound of water falling. The sound wasn't constant so it couldn't be a shower. Droplets hitting the ground did not make the kind of thudding that these were.

Leon recognized the sound and walked up the ramp to the airlock. The systems aboard the ship recognized his signature and without hesitation allowed him inside. Even through the thick metal doors that adorned his ship he could hear the sounds of crying.

As he went to open Barriss' door it slid open for him. He saw her kneeling on the floor in th middle of the room, crying. Slowly he reched to comfort her. Without warning Barriss grabbed him and pulled the young Jedi down to the floor.

"Barriss, this isn't happening."

"Leon, I'm not crying because I'm sad."

A smile, not of evil intent, fell upon her face. She seemed to be content, as if she recieved good news...maybe it was.

"What happened?"

"I saw her, I saw master Luminara!"

"You did?"

"Yes! She spoke to me not too long after you walked out."

"What did she say?"

"She told me to remember my training and to seek help from the Jedi here...is there a Jedi here?"

"There is, but..."

"But what? She is a Jedi isn't she?"

"She is but I don't understand why Master Luminara would want you to train with that Jedi."

"As long as she is a Jedi it shouldn't matter."

"Barriss, she's a Cordru-Ji with an attitude, I really don't think that she is going to be a good teacher."

"Obediah, from what I can understand is a Jedi. Am I right?"

"You are."

"He is a Jedi and yet you found him passed out and drunk."

"That was just once."

"I do not believe so. I found his secret stash near the airlock."

"He has a stash?"

"Indeed, want to see?"

"I don't believe you but I'll look just to humor you."

Barriss bolted from her spot on the floor before Leon could act on his words. He stood up to pursue her in the hallway just to have a bottle thrown in his face. His hands quickly grabbed the round bottle before it hit the ground and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is that enough proof for you?" She asked with a grin.

It took one glance at the bottle to tell that it was not his. Never would he buy such cruddy ale.

"Its probably SEV's."

"Please Leon, since when have you SEV drink while he's been with us? Also, who is the only person that you know has had anything to drink?"

"Ok, I guess you are right."

"Good, now lets get ahold of of that Cordru-Ji."

"Fine."


	6. Chapter 6

Meditation was the Jedi's method of connecting with the force. It was a time of peace, concentration, and most importantly relaxation. For Xchallo Rohm'baha it was the only time where she could escape the everyday command structure of her band of renegades. It was also the only time where she could be nude without being in the bathroom.

Her master taught her to meditate this way. It felt more natural to connect to the force without any outside distractions, as she considered her garments to be. The only article that she left on was a long leather necklace with a small stone arrow at the end. It had some kind of engraving on it, the meaning of it only she knew.

Through her meditation she could hear the heartbeat of the ship. All of its veins came alive with voices and conversations. Droids went here and there, beeping and whizzing around with orders to deliver. Soldiers trained in the decks below, their weapons misfiring because of their overuse. Then she saw someone that caught her attention. For some reason the force was drawing her to this individual. The Jedi master attempted to clear up her vision, but the sudden prescence of visitors outside her door made her break out of her meditative trance.

With haste she quickly robed herself and stomped over to the door. She already had a feeling who it could be since she was one of the few people who currently possed the concentrated prescence of the force. Before anybody could knock, the door opened and the padawan from earlier stood there, along with a girl in a hood.

"What do you want padawan?" she said with her tone from earlier. "I was peacefully meditating before you disturbed me."

"Apologies Master Xchallo, I just needed to see you for a moment. Well, its more like my friend needs to see you."

The boy stood aside as the hooded one removed her disguise and revealed herself. The Jedi master could not believe it. Her fists clenched to the point of nearly breaking bones. Her breathing hardened and with it came the ever present acknowledgement that anger was there.

"Why is this sleemo here?"

"Again, we are sorry to disturb-"

Leon took a step back. The eight foot tall behemoth of a Jedi grabbed Barriss by the throat and slammed her against the wall. Both young Jedi were too stunned to speak, especially Barriss.

"Your bomb killed my padawan you heartless wretch!"

"I'm sorr-" Barriss barely breathed out.

"NO! You do not get to apologize, you get to die!"

Leon had enough. He quickly whipped out his lightsaber, pointing the deadly weapon at the Codru-Ji. With her two other arms free, Xchallo grabbed two of the four lightsabers that adorned her robe.

"Little boy, you can't fight me."

"Wanna bet?" Leon replied.

"Enough!" yelled from the end of the hall. Both heads swiveled to see Obediah walking with Nuru, a stern look on the older Jedi's face.

"Master Obediah, I recognize you now" said Xchallo.

"You should know better than to do what you are doing right now. Jedi do not seek revenge."

"The Jedi are dead Obediah, or have you not caught up with truth yet?"

"Just because the temple is no more does not mean that we have to abandon our ways."

"So says the one who smells like a drunkard."

"Master Xchallo, I understand that you are hurt, but you can't let your emotions get the better of you. Beware this path that you are treading on for it will lead you to the dark side."

The tension in the room was cut into pieces by the old master. The Cordru-Ji put away her lightsabers and dropped the unoncious body of Barriss Offee to the floor. She huffed as she went inside and shut the door behind her. A red icon appeared telling all that the door was locked.

"Thank you Master Obeh" said Leon.

The older Jedi turned away as if he was not listening and pressed his hand against the door. Leon and Nuru watched in contemplation of what he was doing. The door slid open to reveal a dark room. Nothing was visible by the light of the hallway.

"Barriss, if you can I need you to follow me inside."

"What!" Nuru and Leon yelled.

"Wounds need to be healed. Do not worry for I will supervise Barriss while she is in there."

Deep inside, Leon felt that he should not let Barriss go for it could be the last time that either he or Nuru saw them alive. Obediah gently lifted Barriss up from her spot bridal style and carried her into the room. With the power of the force he gently closed the door behind him.

It was darker now than before, but the abscence of light had never affected Obediah or his people. He easily located Xchallo in a connecting room. She was meditating robeless on her bed, her lightsabers by her sides. Gently Obediah set Barriss down on the ground and sat on the other side of the massive bed.

"What are you doing old man?"

"Old, my dear I haven't even broken 50 yet."

"Why is she here? Is this terrorist supposed to be a peace offering?"

"No, I brought her here because we all need to talk, otherwise we may finish each other off before the empire even has a chance to."

"Talking does so little."

"And you are nothing like your master. I see that you adapted her habit of meditating robeless, but as for calmly solving problems, you are completely different. You must have had a close connection to somebody lost if you are acting this way."

Xchallo's eyes bolted open. She stared at the Jedi Master sitting next to her, stunned at his observation.

"How did you know?"

"I read the list of those lost in the bombing of the temple and your padawan was amongst those who died. I'm just cuirious, how close were you to your padawan?"

"Close enough to be sleeping in the same bed."

"How did this come to be? If I remember properly he was barely a young man."

"I know, but he was such a strong Jedi."

"Your people flock around those who show great strength."

"Yes. It is ingrained in our minds as little children that we must mate with the strongest men in our clan."

"What happened to your original significant other?"

"A ruthless clan took over."

"He fought valiantly as a part of the resistance I assume."

"He did and died for me and my clan. He wanted me and my family to be safe, things would have gone differently if the Jedi had not intervened."

"I guess that your master played a part.

"She was there for me indeed. Master Yoda had foreseen a force sensitive child amongst our clan and I was the one"

"What about your padawan?"

"I found him in a similar way. It was during the Battle of Bakura. My master was elsewhere out in the field while I fought under Master Kenobi and Skywalker. I was knight then and had a chance at becoming a master."

"I don't mean to interrupt but you sounded like a much different person then."

"Indeed. I was more of a Jedi then than I am now. I protected the weak without fear. My padawan was different. He was a young child forced to fight by the extremists there on the planet. They despised the Seperatists but both were one in the same, they both wanted complete and total domination."

"You rescued him?"

A tear trailed down her face. She shook her head and fell back on the bed.

"The generals left me with thirty regulars to pick up a squad of four commandos. We faced against incredible odds. It all seemed hopeless not even an hour into the fight. I lost my entire unit and almost lost the commandos, that is if my padawan had not intervened. He jumped into the fray and killed a majority of the droids with his bare hands."

"Incredible."

"Such brutalityhad turned an innocent child into a warmonger, I changed that. Once I arrived on Corusceant from shore leave the council found it fit to promote me to Jedi Master and to take the young Bakuran under my wing."

Obediah could feel the change in Xchallo. Her hand was rythimically moving up and down her leg. She took in a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

"I remembered when it all started. It was a year before Barriss bombed the temple. I was meditating in my room since I was banned from doing so in the garden. I was meditating in such a way that I...well."

"Exposed yourself."

"Yes, he walked in and saw me. I wasn't really ashamed of it, though he was flustered. I explained to him why I meditate like I did and asked him to join me. It was awkward for him at first but he adjusted. Soon afterwards we stretched together and sparred together as well. It finally came to a point one night sparring that we managed to end up tangled together. He actually planned it out."

"Least to say you two shared a bond that was banned by the council. Your story is interesting."

"Indeed, now about her-"

"Do you remember the young man outside?"

"Yes, he reminded me of my padawan."

"He once held a grudge against Barriss. He loved Skywalker's padawan and despised Barriss for letting her take the fall."

"Then how can he bear to be around her now?"

"He shared his testimony, his life after the temple fell. In such a short time he had lost all hope and fell into anything that could distract him from the loss of his friends and his master. Barriss also shared the same story, hers involving internment by the empire. She was treated like an animal and poor Leon had become one."

"Common circumstances are what broke Leon's indifference?"

"Yes, and you must do the same as well. If you are to stay out of the spiteful hand of the dark side, you must forgive Barriss for her past and help her."

The red pupils of Xchallo focused on Barriss. They wondered around her unconcious form and landed upon the numbers on her arm. She had promised herself that she would kill the one who took her padawan away from her, but just seeing those numbers reminded her of the real enemy. The ones who marked the rogue Jedi as an animal.

Obediah knew when he overstayed his welcome and got up to leave. An arm shot out and stopped him in his tracks.

"I have nothing to more to say than thank you Master Jedi. I have never spoken of anyone else of this matter before."

"You are welcome."

The grey-haired Jedi walked out the door, making sure to close it behind him. The room felt calm and at peace now that its key inhabitant was finally at ease. Xchallo was readjusting herself on the bed to meditate when she heard a groan.

"Well well, it looks like somebody finally decided to wake up" said Xchallo.

"Why am I in here and why haven't you killed me?"

"The grey-haired one spoke words of wisdom to me. I realize that I have no real reason to be angry with you. You have suffered more in such a short period of time than I could."

"Well thats fortunate...um."

Both women looked at one another, Barriss' eyes trailing downward. Xchallo laughed in her deep, yet still feminine voice.

"I think I know who your master was."

"She taught me much, and I will do the same with you Barriss. I understand that you did not complete your formal training with Master Luminara."

"That is correc- wait, are you offering to train me?"

The Cordru-Ji grinned from ear to ear, "What do you think?"

"Thank you, I-I-I-"

"Fret no more padawan we start training today! But first-"

Barriss did not expect for the towering Jedi Master to be in such close proximty of her again. Xchallo put hands on her and the next thing she knew shecould feel the humidity of the room more than ever.

"If we are going to train together then we are training like my master taught me."

"Why naked?"

"Why not!" she said raising her arms and exposing herself further.

Barriss covered her eyes causing the Cordru-Ji to laugh.

"Why are you doing that now? At least i'm not a man."

The padawan did not care if she was a woman or a man, it was indecent exposure to her all the same.

"_I have a feeling that its going to be a long day._" she thought.

/-/

Leon and the others were in a large meeting room. Commander Silvogoth was standing at the center of the room with Lieutenant Gaspev, a Gen'dai with a nasty stare. The room fell silent once the display in the center of the room came alive.

"All right ladies and gents, i'm not going to be nice about this. A few days ago a cell on Ryloth sent us a coded message. In that time our translators decoded the message and this is what it says,'Warning, Imperial Inquisitor in the system. Identified as Lady Ahmmslaq. We have..." Commander Silvogoth paused. "We have a Jedi here in hiding."

The silence of his troops was broken. Whispers of yet another Jedi survivor bounced off of the walls. Leon could not believe his ears.

"_Another survivor?_" he thought. "_Could it be?_"


End file.
